Thought for a moment this would be a transcript of the captivating Adam Curtis documentary by the same name.

I had been familiar with the title phrase for many years, particularly through its association with industrial music, but did not know there was a whole poem attached to it until I saw it printed up in a little display on the counter of a pop-up cyberpunk ramen bar at a local Burning Man-affiliated festival.

His poems portray him as a sort of selfish but also very self-aware and basically well intentioned character. The change in tone from poem to poem, and that general vibe makes for an interesting read. They seem very honest.

It is interesting that Wikipedia describes him as a Hippy. I somehow got it into my head that he was the last beatnik. But, I can’t find any support for this theory in a quick googling, and I’m pretty bad at literature. So, I wonder where I stumbled across that idea.

Reminds me of Nothing But Flowers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iiGqBfyLaw

Feels like a depth optical illusion - the meaning can change based on perspective

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_illusion

Also reminds me of Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot

I assume this is because of the recent talk "Self Moderls of Loving Grace", which is a fun mashup of cutting edge AI models and philosophy:

https://events.ccc.de/congress/2024/hub/en/event/self-models...

It also features in the Tate Modern's current exhibition "Electric Dreams - Art and Technology Before the Internet"

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/electric-dreams

I've read the titled poem before but never knew there were others in the collection. They're all really enjoyable.

I'm not someone that has ever really appreciated or liked poetry too much in general. It's always been presented to me as esoteric word smithing by people trying to be intellectual for the sake of sounding smart.

But I really enjoy the simple and straight language in these and that they're startling funny.

At the California Institute of Technology

    I don't care how God-damn smart
    these guys are: I'm bored.
    
    It's been raining like hell all day long
    and there's nothing to do.
    
        Written January 24, 1967
        while poet-in-residence
        at the California Institute
        of Technology.

Yes! I was just looking for this a few months ago.

I know the poem is typically interpreted as ironic, but I like to read it as exceedingly idealistic. The idea that Man, Nature, and Technology can all coexist in harmony is very tantalizing!

Wild to read the copyright statement. Gives permission to reprint any of the poems in magazines books or newspapers as long as they are given away free. Like a precursor to the copyleft movement / GPL.

This poem feels completely different now than in the 60s, I'm sure. Like it's advocating for a techno optimistic dystopia where nobody, not even animals, can be left alone by the countlessly pervasive benevolent machines of faceless masters.

This poem is one of the few I've ever read that gives me physical chills. I've read it before of course, but not the rest of the work in the PDF- which was also excellent. Thanks for posting.

Cool to find out there are poetry fans on HN.

What a fabulous collection!

Here, I think I fixed it:

    I hate to think (take
    the bandage off quickly!)
    of a cybernetic ghetto
    where mammals and computers
    strive together in mutually
    destructive chaos
    like pure water
    soaking dead trash.
    
    I hate to think
        (not now, please!)
    of a cybernetic whorehouse;
    Amazon, Google, Microsoft
    exact tolls peacefully
    from computers
    though already paid for,
    for extra "content".
    
    I hate to think
        (it cannot be!)
    of a cybernetic lobotomy
    where we are free of our nature
    and farmed for our labors,
    subjected through mammal
    weakness and instinct,
    and all watched over
    by machines of loving grace.